Barbed wire



v0.120, 1959 R, s, DERR 2,909,360

BARBED lWIRE Filed March 8. 1954 INVENTOR )Qaymond .oerr

mozaaw ORNEY Uflitfd States Paw BARBED WIRE Raymond S. Doerr, Battle Creek, Mich., assgnor to Dare Products, Incorporated, Battle Creek, Mich., a corporation oflVIichigan Application March s, 19s4,sria1No. 414,707 z claims. (ci. 25a-zy The present invention relates broadly to wire goods, and in its specific phases to barbed wire and the method of making same.

The barbed wire now commonly found on the open market, aside from that of the present invention, is of the double-strand main wire type with the barbs generally being of double form havingrfour points. `That type `of barbed wire is both strong and relatively expensive and more particularly isadapted for use in making multi-strand barbed Wire fences, or for use as a top Wire above a woven Wire fence to'k'eep cattle and horses from eating across the fence and breaking it or causing it to sag.

Several efforts have been made in the past to devise barbed wire fencing with a single main wire instead of a pair of main wires, but the fact that they are not on the open market indicates that none of them proved successful. Those proposed constructions were of rather varied form wherein many of them utilized a loop or loops of one type or another made in the main wire with the barb threaded through and anchored to such loop or loops in various Ways. Other constructions involved spirally winding the barbs in close tight coils and then slightly attening the barb and main wire in an attempt to hold the barb against endwise movement. Still other plans involved utilizing a main Wire with a continuous wave in same and then winding the barb in the hollows of the Waves, or a modified form of this where Waves were only placed in the main Wire at the point where the barbs were to be installed, and the barbs later wound in such waves. While some such constructions may have appeared to have been theoretically satisfactory, apparently they turned out to be too difficult to produce, or too costly, or something else so that they were not commercially feasible. It was a recognition of such difficulties and shortcomings of the prior art in the single main strand barbed wire eld, and the need of such a product for use in electric fencing, which led to the conception and commercial development of the barbed Wire of the present invention;

Accordingly among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a simple and highly efficient barbed Wire utilizing a single main strand.

Another object is to provide a barbed wire of the single main strand type wherein there is formed in such main strand, at one end of each barb, a small bend or kink which helps to'hold the barb in place.

Another object is to provide a barbed wire of the single main strand type wherein the main strand is bent sidewise in both directions with only suicient bends in same to receive a barb spirally wound and bent sidewise therein.

A further object is to provide a barbed wire of the single main strand type wherein the barb is spirally wound thereon with relatively widely spaced coils with such.

barb held against both rotation and endwise movement on the barbed Wire main strand due to sidewise bending of such main wire in a single plane and extending on both loe n sides of the longitudinal axis of the main strand when same is in stretched position.

A further object is to produce a barbed wire of the single main strand type which is easy to produce, relatively low in cost, and highlyV eicient in use.

A further object is to provide a method of producing the single main strand barbed wire of Vthe present invention.

Still further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, ,the invention, then, consists of the method and product hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawing and the following descriptionvsetting forth in detail one mode of carrying out the invention, such disclosed mode illustrating, however, but one of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In the annexed drawing:

Figure 1 shows a section of fence which utilizes a single strand Yof barbed wire of the type involved inthe present inventiom t Figure `2 shows an enlarged side view of a single barb spirally mounted on a single strand main wire of a barbed Wire in accordance `with the present invention, and illustrating the location of the single small kink in the main Wire with only the first turn of the spiral barb engaging same and before forming a series of sidewise bends in said main Wire to receive the turns of the barb.

Figure 3 is a top view of the barbed Wire construction shown in Figure 2, and illustrating the sidewise bends in the main Wire and the position of the spirally wound barb therein after sidewise pressure has been applied to the assembly.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, it will be noted that in Figure l there is shown a barbed Wire fence 1 wherein a barbed wire 2 is supported on electric insulators 9 carried by fence posts 3 which are suitably spaced for the purpose at hand. The barbed Wire 2 is provided at suitably spaced intervals with barbs 4. Those barbs, as is more particularly shown in Figures 2 and 3, are mounted on a single main wire strand 5 and have spaced apart or open coils 6 extending spirally around main wire 5. The points 7 of each barb preferably extend outward atan angle a little less than and which, in general, corresponds approximately with the spiral Winding angle of the barb 4 on the main strand 5.

At one end of barb 4, main strand 5 is preferably provided With a moderate kink 8, extending substantially in the same direction as the adjacent barb point 7, to help hold the barb in place even when merely tightly wound spirally around the main strand 5. In preferred construction, there is additionally formed a sidewise bending of the main Wire 5, only to the extent of the number of passes the coils of the barb 4 make on opposite sides of main wire 5, and those coils are of tight sidewise flattened form when in place in the waves of the main strand 5 of the nished barbed Wire 2. Since these waves in main wire 5 are only in a single plane and extend, in general, on opposite sides of the axis of such main strand when same is in stretched position, they hold the barb xed against both rotation and endwise movement on the main strand 5.

The method of forming the single main strand barbed wire of the present invention, see Figure 2, involves, in connection with each barb 4, placing a kink 8 in the main wire 5 at the start of spirallyspinning or Winding the barb, and with the rst turn of such barb extending slightly into kink 8 which helps to hold the barb in place. With the barb 4 wound in open spiral pattern around main wire 5', it will be noted that the diameter of the body portion or coils 6 of the barb 4 will be substantially equal ,Y Patented Oct. 20,1959A to the thickness of main wire 5 plus the thickness of the wire of the barb 4 on each side of said main Wire. To still more rmly anchor the barb 4 on main wire 5', the barbed portion-is attened, as by swedging or rolling, so as to have, in nished form, vin the Vplane containing extending points 7, a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of main wire 5 plus one thickness of the Wire forming the barb, all as shown in Figure 3. Main Wire 5' thus acquires a series of sidewise bends 10 equal to the number of times the coils 6 of barb 4 pass on opposite sides of same, and those coils, in turn, due to this flattening, take on a substantially oval shape, in crosswise section, with a height as shown in Figure 2 and a thickness as shown in Figure 3. This attening of the barb 4 on main wire 5 of barbed Wire 2 thus positively anchors barb 4 against both endwise and rotary movement relative to main Wire 5, and produces a high quality product with the barbs still more tightly gripped in place when the barbed wire 2 is stretched under conditions of use, since stretching tends to slightly straighten the bends in the main wire 5 and that in turn still more firmly grips the :barb 4 in place; see my copending application led March 15, 1954, Serial No. 416,007.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the product and method of making same as herein disclosed, provided those stated by any of the following claims or their equivalent be employed.

I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A barbed Wire comprising a main strand having at least one portion comprising a series of oiset bends lying in a single plane, a barb having a mid portion in the form of a flat spiral, the several turns of the spiral engaging the successive bends of the main strand, and said barb having terminal portions engaging said main strand adjacent the `terminal portions of said main strand bends.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which the maximum cross section at the barb through the main strand is substantially flattened comprising two thicknesses of wire of the barb and one thickness of the main strand in one direction, and comprises one thickness of the barb wire and the main strand in another direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 162,835 Mack May 4, 1875 171,105 Dobbs et al Dec. 14, 1875 187,172 Putnam Feb. 6, 1877 209,467 Daley Oct. 29, 1878 293,538 Sunderland Feb. 12, 1884 301,086 Briggs July 1, 1884 330,686 Edenborn Nov. 17, 1885 1,654,837 Schmid Jan. 3, 1928 2,254,238 Nelson Sept. 2, 1941 2,392,223 Brickman Jan. 1, 1946 

